Interwoven
by Diporae
Summary: Sequel to "Weavings." Adjusting to life as an immortal god hasn't been easy, but now that Raphael has begun to accept who he is, he has begun picking up the pieces he tried to throw away. Will he tie up those frayed threads or will resentment still linger? And what of his family's ever-aging mortality? The final fic in The Soul Collector Arc.


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 **A/N I do not own TMNT, but I am forever grateful for their existence!**

 **This is a sequel to "Weavings" and so I would strongly recommend reading that before this :)**

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I.

"Thank-you for calling "Happy Insurance," your first stop to a happy lifetime of coverage. This is your Happy Insurance representative, Casey. How may I help you?" The messy dark-haired individual spoke in a positively monotone voice into his headset.

Raphael tilted his head, his arms folded over his plastron, as he observed the now twenty-four year old. He had not revealed his presence to the mortal yet. He would, but first he wanted to take a few precious minutes to see how much his friend had really changed these last few years. Dark circles lined the man's face, indicating many sleepless nights in his recent past. As Casey spoke, Raphael had clear view of the human's mouth. Evidently, Casey had finally gotten or rather _submitted_ to his father's and dentist's pleas of getting a series of false teeth implanted where his originals had long since been knocked out in hockey.

Hockey.

It took barely a glance for Raphael to determine how detrimental the loss of the sport had been to Casey Jones. His once bright thread now lacked any sort of luster. It still was relatively healthy – although a subtle kink told the god the mortal was fighting a cold – but it had no real life to it. Casey was simply there. Simply existing. Hardly living. Just going through the motions needed to finish another day so he could start a new one.

Shaking his head, Raphael patiently waited – a trait only time had earned him – until the call came to conclusion. Then, before another customer could come online, Raphael released a wave of energy just strong enough to kill the primary lights, computer and phone systems, but not the emergency power. Another jolt was all it took to send the fire alarms off. Instantly, the hundreds of humans on the floor jumped up in fright before frantically scurrying to the nearest exit. Casey, obviously still hindered by his once broken femur, was slower to rise. The slight delay was all it took for Raphael to position himself at Casey's cubicle entrance before making his appearance known.

At the sudden materialization of a mutant turtle before him, Casey leapt back with a slight yelp of surprise. Raphael kept his arms firmly folded, "It's been a long time, Casey."

"Look man," The human took a purposeful step forward, "I don't know who you are, but there's a fire and we should be getting out of here."

Raphael glanced at the nearby threads, "Don't worry." Upon noting they had all left the floor, he sent out another controlled energy blast. This time, he shocked the emergency doors, causing them to swing and then lock shut. At the jarring bang of their closure he shrugged, "There's no fire."

Casey outright ignored him, undoubtedly concerned by how he was now stuck on a soon-to-be burning floor with a lunatic mutant, "Shit! We're trapped!"

"Again," Raphael rolled his eyes, "That would only be a problem if there was an actual fire, but there isn't. The phones, the computers, the lights, and the alarm, those were all me." He jerked a thumb towards the nearest exit, "Same deal with the doors."

A new expression slowly crept across the former vigilante's face. No longer of fear, but anger, "What the hell? You telling me that you've set a trap? Well, if you're looking for the other mutant turtles this is not the way to do it. Being their enemy is a bad idea. So I suggest you move your big green butt or I call in back-up."

"And if you'd been listening at all, you'd know that won't work. I torched the phone lines, genius."

"Nuh uh." Casey brandished his cell, "Only the ground lines are disconnected."

Narrowing his eyes at the device, Raphael set a precise little bolt of energy at the phone. Immediately, the cell sparked causing Casey to flinch and drop it. With eyes staring in horror at his short-circuited lifeline Raphael dryly remarked, "Are you done?"

"Dude…" Casey glared up at the turtle, "You've really done it now. You know how pissy my bro, Donnie, will get when he finds out one of his precious techno babies got fried? It'll be all on you dude."

"Oh I know how he gets." Raphael did not hesitate to meet Casey's gaze head on, "I'm his brother. I should know."

"What…?" The mortal sunk into his chair, "How is that possible…? I mean I know they mentioned there was another one of you, but…"

Raphael sighed, "Here, this will help."

The Soul Collector neatly plucked off the mercurial webbing he had placed on Casey's thread years ago. With its removal, Casey would be returned his memories and a lot of confusion would be avoided. In retrospect, Raphael wished he had also accounted for the possibility of the hockey fanatic losing his ever-loving shit when said memories were finally returned.

It only took a few minutes before the process was done. For several seconds after, Casey merely stared at the floor between his feet shaking his head before his brow furrowed.

Suddenly, the man, who was no lightweight by any means, was up and tackling Raphael. If the turtle had been expecting it, there was no way his friend would have been able to successfully land him on his shell, but he had let his guard down. That was why he now found his face being swarmed by punches while Casey yelled, "YOU ASSHOLE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH OF A SHIT YOU ARE? HOW COULD YOU JUST CUT US OUT LIKE THAT?! AND TO TAKE MY MEMORIES!? I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS?!"

Up until now, Raphael had kept the majority of his power tightly bound up so that the surrounding humans and Casey would not detect his presence. It also made it easier for him to continue in this form. However, although he had far more patience than he once had a few centuries ago, Raphael still ran hot by nature, and it was only agitated by Casey's presence. All at once, he dissolved the binds he had woven to remain in this form, "ENOUGH!"

To Casey's terror, the turtle he had been relentlessly pummeling, suddenly dissolved into what appeared to be liquid light, "Raph…?"

Only a second later, the light reformed, and Casey found himself on the chest of a very large and very angry god. Pulling himself up, wings composed of soul threads opened. At the same time, The Soul Collector plucked the much smaller Casey up by his hoodie. Blazing green eyes glowered down at the mortal before he cursed, "Fuck you Casey Jones."

Casey's face went ghost white, "Uh…"

At his friend's distress, Raphael tried to relax. Trying to lighten the situation, he joked, "What? No "that's so metal?""

Torn between fear, relief, and even amusement among a multitude of other emotions, the human could only manage, "Eep."

At the high-pitched and rather pathetic sound, Raphael snorted before allowing a smirk to cross his face, "Good to know you're still good with words."

Finally recovering from his shock, although still pale, Casey exhaled a puff of laughter, "Hey it's April who went to college."

"You never were much into books."

Once the god lowered the vigilante, Casey slumped back into his chair, "Well, I _was_ into sports." He gestured at his leg, "Until I went and busted this thing."

Emerald eyes were downcast, "Sorry."

"What are you sorry about, bro?" Casey waved him off, "You've been busy doing god things. Managing souls and shit. It's my own damn fault for not thinking things through."

"You never would have been outnumbered if I had been there though." Raphael folded his glowing white arms over his similarly luminous chest, "We were always a team."

"Yeah, _we were_." Hoodie-clad shoulders shrugged, "But that was in the past man. Like I said, you had god things to do."

"Maybe." The Soul Collector frowned, "But me cutting you all out didn't exactly help."

"Well you're here now arentcha?" Suddenly he leant forward on his chair, "Unless you plan on pulling "Eternal Sunshine" on me again?"

"Eternal what-?"

The human chuckled, ""Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." It's a movie. April roped me into it one night." He shook his head before tapping his forehead, "It's off topic though. What I meant is, are you going wipe the slate clean again?"

"No, I'm not." Raphael knelt down in front of Casey, "I'm going to try and fix your leg."

"What?" The chair's wheels squeaked as he excitedly scooted closer to the looming giant of light, "I thought you just dealt with souls, bro?"

"Mostly." The Soul Collector tilted his head as he inspected the mortal's thread, "But I've had an… _Upgrade_ since we've last met. I have far more power and control than I once did. I can manipulate soul energy in ways that before were unimaginable. So I'm thinking if I can transfer the right degree and frequency of energy directly into your soul, from there I can use the excess energy in your spirit to heal your leg. Don't worry, it'll be _your_ _soul_ doing the healing; I'll just help guide it along."

"I understood like none of that Raph." Casey sucker-punched the god's knee, "But if you say it's cool I trust you."

Raphael grinned as he began a new weaving, "Thanks Casey."


End file.
